


Cinnamon

by darlingDesires



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Camping, Explicit Language, Forgive Me, I don't know, I'm tired, M/M, This took me so long to write okay, just read it, mature themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 08:34:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12317478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingDesires/pseuds/darlingDesires
Summary: "I'm so excited!" David gripped the straps of his backpack as the two hiked up the hill. The background of the sky was painted in a beautiful sunset, framed by the tall and towering trees you couldn’t find anywhere else in the world. Below their line of sight was a chestnut dirt littered with leaves, weeds, and small rocks that crunched with the weight of their boots. The scent of pinecones and fir trees enveloped Jasper’s senses in a comfortable and familiar blanket, he didn’t realize how out of touch he was with nature, how much he missed the sweet embrace of what once was and what could have been.





	Cinnamon

**Author's Note:**

> Rated Teen & Up for explicit language and mature themes

The express boat whisked across the water at such a swift pace, Jasper wouldn’t have ever known they were even moving. He fidgeted with the bracelet around his wrist- purple, yellow, red, and green strands intertwining with each other. He’d had it around his wrist since he was ten years old, and it wasn’t coming off any time soon. The wind tousled his hair like a large hand roughing the blonde locks. From this close, the ocean looked soft. Cyan mesh seemed to fold in on itself and roll around with such graceful ease.

“Relaxing, huh?” Jasper jumped. He turned his head to see David, who chuckled. His face melted into a smile.

“Yeah.” Jasper turned his gaze back to the water, and the two stood as they watched the mainland retreat from their view. “So what’s the dilly? How long ‘til we get there?”

David looked at his wristwatch. “Forty-five minutes.”

“Forty-five minutes!” Jasper turned to face his companion, “What even is there to do for that long?”

“We could talk, catch up!” David suggested, smile creeping onto his face. “The whole point of this trip was to reconnect, it feels like forever since I’ve seen you, I miss talking to you!”

Jasper chuckled, and he couldn’t help but smile back. The enthusiasm emanating from the other was always its own brand of charm, that’s what he liked about him. “Me too. Thanks for inviting me. I think the last time I went camping was… golly, I think it was back at Camp Campbell with you, same year you made me this bracelet.” Jasper held up his wrist and pulled the bracelet up from beneath his sweater sleeve, showcasing it in case David had forgotten.

David hadn’t forgotten. His whole face seemed to radiate happiness, and he did his best to contain himself. “You still have that?”

“Of course,” Jasper’s smile broadened, pale and nimble fingers absentmindedly pulling his sleeves, bringing his arms to rest against the chilled metal of the railing. “I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget you.”

Jasper could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks, he hadn’t meant to say that. He pursed his lips and contemplated excusing himself to the restroom until he could breathe again. Until he could figure out exactly why his heart was palpitating so furiously. Until he could deepen the shallow and quaking breaths that pushed and prodded at his lungs. Any trace of wanting to hide away was erased when David let go a laugh riddled with awkward undertones and saturated with joy.

“I’m glad you didn’t forget me, Jas… per” David silently cursed himself for referring back to Jasper’s old nickname, smiling with muffled enthusiasm. His face was almost as red as his hair. Water could be heard brushing against the side of the boat not unlike a domestic feline craving affection.

Jasper’s lips strung upwards into a lopsided smile and a laugh escaped his lips, tumbling away with the soft breeze. As odd as it might be, it made him feel less out of place to know that David was just as nervous as he was.

The remaining time on the ferry was occupied by long and awkward silences, appetizers to shallow and undescriptive conversation.

"I'm so excited!" David gripped the straps of his backpack as the two hiked up the hill. The background of the sky was painted in a beautiful sunset, framed by the tall and towering trees you couldn’t find anywhere else in the world. Below their line of sight was a chestnut dirt littered with leaves, weeds, and small rocks that crunched with the weight of their boots. The scent of pinecones and fir trees enveloped Jasper’s senses in a comfortable and familiar blanket, he didn’t realize how out of touch he was with nature, how much he missed the sweet embrace of what once was and what could have been.

"I'll admit it, I was a bit skeptical going into this,” Jasper said sheepishly, almost out of breath from the walk yet able to breathe in enough air for conversation, “but I'm enjoying your company. You know, just this.. this moment."

A flock of birds took flight distantly, rustling, bouncing the limbs of the trees. “Me too.” David turned his head and locked eyes with Jasper. The twinkling of the setting sun cast shadows, illuminating the redhead’s face like flames as he smiled.

They reached their campsite by the time the sun was reaching twilight. David pitched the tent with such swift, calculated, and graceful movements ingrained into his memory as if he’d done this millions of times before. Which, he probably had. Jasper watched him with a certain fondness, hands folded in his lap, head tilted to the side in fascination. He wished he could help, but David seemed to really get into it, and he didn’t want to ruin his concentration. Jasper sighed gently and breathed out, blowing some of his hair out of his face.

David brushed his hands together with a bright smile, wiping a bit of sweat from his brow and he exhaled in pride. "Done! And just in time, too, there’s not much daylight left!”

Jasper chuckled and pulled back the tarp, gazing inside of the tent with a look of curiosity. “It looks so spacious..”

“It won’t be once we get all of our things inside,” David laughed a little, unstrapping his sleeping bag from the backpack and unrolling it within the tent. An owl could be heard in the distance.

Stargazing and chatting and enjoying the sounds and smells of mother nature, David got together several rugged slats of wood. Placed in the center of a stone circle, he struck a match and lit the fire. The two spent hours catching up on all of the things they’d missed. Once old companions had run out of things to discuss, the conversation was drawn to the stars, twinkling and shimmering a dance all their own above them. When that topic died down, a gentle quiet drifted upon the two, just the other’s presence was enough to feel safe with the comfortable silence. So much had changed since the last time they’d spoken, but it was almost as if no time had passed at all. It was well past dark when a gentle yawn interrupted the lulling hush.

“Tired?”

“Yeah.”

David smiled gently, scuffing the ground with a smooth rock he’d found. “It’s probably time to sleep, anyway. We’ve got a big day tomorrow!”

He yawned again, stretching his arms out to the side and craning his neck backwards almost preparedly. “You don’t have to sleep if you’re not… tired, Davey, I won’t make you.” Jasper’s eyes drifted closed momentarily before stacking himself back up, balancing his head normally and reopening his eyes. “Is it cool that I call you Davey? I mean, it’s an older nickname, and I’d understand if you didn’t like it anymore.”

“Of course! I’m still just as much Davey as I was all those years ago.” David replied, using an arm to push him up to standing, Jasper following suit.

The two settled into their sleeping bags once David put out the campfire. Due to the size of the tent, both sleeping bags were in rather close proximity, not much negative space between the two. They lie awake, taking in the sounds of the leaves and the bugs and the sky. Jasper found himself shifting closer to the other, half-asleep and already drowsy. An arm pulled around Jasper, and he could feel the warmth of David’s breath on his forehead, setting him into such a serene mindset that he didn’t even notice it when he drifted off.

Jasper woke to a chilled feeling that seemed to sink deep into his skin, a cold sweat seeping through to his pillow. He let out a silent yawn, stretching his arms over his head as he looked over. The sleeping bag David had been using lie empty and bunched up. Solely based on the temperature of the tent and what little light was available, he came to the conclusion that it was still the middle of the night. The light he could see was soft, flickering. It moved shadows against the tarp, a collection of shapes Jasper could only assume was David prodded at the source of light with something else.

He reached for his sweater that would have been right next to him, but his fingers were met with the plastic crinkle of the floor instead. He felt around for a moment before he found what he was looking for. A young and yet somehow aged voice began to hum gently against the muffled winds caressing the forest and the lullaby of crickets. Jasper reached for the entrance flap of the tent and pushed it up with his arm, looking outside of the tent.

David’s back was to the tent, and he sat facing outwards toward the lake with the fire at his left, yet still creating a beautiful silhouette against the sky, gray and thick with clouds, obscuring the stars from view. His knees were pulled into his chest in an effort to recreate childlike comfort. His arm reached off to the side, near the contained fire, and tapped at something before folding his arm to his chest, palm towards his face. The motion was slow and relaxed, but it all seemed too fast for Jasper, he was having difficulty figuring out what those motions meant. He contemplated whether to join David in whatever it was he was doing, or to let him do his own thing in favor of going back to sleep.

As the blonde made up his mind to retreat back into the tent, his sock crinkled the material much louder than anticipated. David’s body jerked in a startled manner, humming immediately ceasing, his head flicked over to make eye contact with the other. He exhaled gently, and an almost translucent cloud of gray smoke wisped from his lips, swirling into itself before dissipating from view. His face flushed with guilt. His hand was shaking. David stubbed the small cigarette into the dirt with a swift movement, calculated. “Jasper! Sorry, did I wake you?”

“Davey... you smoke?” Jasper countered, almost inaudible voice laced with disbelief. His eyes trailed to a carton on the ground, half-buried in the dirt, there were only three cigarettes remaining.

David gave no warning before he burst into tears, hand drawing up to his face to muffle his crying. He looked away, not daring to make eye contact as his body shook. Jasper’s eyes widened, and before he knew it, his arms cloaked over the other in a tight hug. David pushed back gently, but dropped his head onto Jasper’s shoulder, letting himself feel comforted. The two shared the embrace as the crackling of the fire paralleled the almost distant crying, not lost unto the ambience of the forest.

“I just- god, everything just  _ sucks _ !” David’s words were muffled, face buried into the fabric, fists clinging tightly to Jasper. “Life’s hard, and it- it fucking _ sucks _ , Jas!”

It took Jasper more than a few moments to realize that David’s tears weren’t the only thing wetting his faded clothing. It was light at first, but soon grew into a weighted blanket infinitely falling to the forest floor. Rain speckled down from the sky, fizzling the fire down to embers, and even that faded from view. The only light in the desolate waste was drawn from the distant flashing of thunder, like a photograph capturing this moment to forever preserve it in time’s scrapbooking album.

“Great, and it’s raining,” David laughed the sort of defeated laugh Jasper never thought he’d hear from the redhead. “It’s raining, and everything’s- it’s- I...”

“David…” Jasper said softly, hugging the other tighter.

“No, I’m- I didn’t want to ruin this trip,” David sniffled, weakly pushing back against Jasper, “I still don’t, I-”

“David.”

“It's been so long, I just wanted this to be- I wanted us to have a good time together!”

“David!”

David pushed out of Jasper’s embrace, rising with a distraught look on his face. His arms pulled up to grasp at each other, gripping into a solitary hug. “I-I should, I- shit, I’m-”

Jasper rose to his mud-soaked feet, doing his best to maintain his balance as he faced David. His hands cupped David’s face, tilting it up from the floor, maintaining eye contact with a soft but worried stare. His breath wavered, uncertainty apparent on his face. Jasper let go of David’s face and leaned into another hug, this one felt more real than the last one. “Let’s go inside the tent, you’re going to catch a cold.”

David sniffled, taking off his wet shirt and tucking himself into a gentle yellow sweater he’d brought. He looked over at Jasper, who was facing the tarp of the tent and hefting a lavender sweatshirt over his head. David’s eyes trailed, and he thought he’d seen three deep scars on the other’s chest. He quickly returned his own gaze to slipping into his sleeping bag, holding onto the pillow like it was the end of the world while rain pattered against the tent.

Jasper pulled his sleeping bag right next to David’s, legs folded beneath him as he watched the other. David broke the eye contact in favor of staring at his pillow.

“Tell me what’s wrong?” Jasper said beneath his breath.

And David did. He told Jasper everything. How every other person he’d known from Camp was happily married, and had someone to call their own. How everyone around him seemed to be able to find themselves, find their place in the world. His mother died last week, and his father called him the day after, despite eight years of silence. Memories he’d pushed down, traumatic experiences he thought he’d worked through, were beginning to resurface and it made things difficult to cope with, so he turned to the thing his mother had always used to get through trying times. It made things feel better, until the moment the cigarette was through, and he’d begin craving another.

David’s eyes were glassy and full of pain, looking away from Jasper, who was already victim to tears dripping from the corners of his eyes. The weather outside began to lighten from a gag of storm to a soft drizzle, dripping against the tent with a gentle apathy that couldn’t be explained.

“Nobody should have to go through that…” Jasper murmured, gripping the sleeves of his sweatshirt with a pain he’d forgotten he could know, “I’m so sorry.”

By the time the rain had stopped, both of the campers were soundly asleep. David slept more restfully than he had in years, close to Jasper but not quite in his arms. Jasper’s sleep was without nightmares, gentle and as soft as David’s strawberry hair.

The ferry on the way back was much more comfortable than on the way there. Jasper stood close to David, an unfamiliar feeling of safety washing over him. In the foreground, a fish popped out of the water, but the only thing concerning him was whether or not it would be crossing the line to…

“Jasper?” His face flushed with color when he realized that he’d been lost in his thoughts staring at David. Jasper redirected his gaze to the wake behind the ferry.

“Jasper,” David repeated himself, “Are you okay? You look a little red.”

“This whole trip went by too fast,” he remarked with a gentle laugh, empty, and without any of the joy behind laughter. David turned his head towards the other. In the distance, a pod of dolphins broke free from the water, mist springing up from the masses and twirling like a fountain.

“Yeah,” David breathed, looking over at Jasper.

Jasper made a humming noise in response, exhaling against the wind. “We’re going to talk again after this, right? This won’t just be a one trip thing. I really miss you...r company. We’ll be able to hang out again… right?”

“Of course.”

“Do you promise?” Jasper looked up at David, breeze tousling his hair.

“I promise.”

David pulled his arm around Jasper, hugging him close. His clothes smelled like cinnamon.


End file.
